Pesto Bacon Wrapped Chicken

(looks sort of like this -not my picture)

*This recipe is one I sort of created, so at least you'll understand why my instructions aren't very professional. You can use other alternatives, like instead of low sodium Turkey Bacon you can use the real thing (yummy!). You can make your own pesto sauce, or buy the already made kind. To make this dish even lighter try to buy a pesto sauce that is not too high in fat (or make your own), don't use too much cheese (or at all if you prefer), and use a lower-fat, low-sodium turkey bacon. The tenderloins work nicely for appetizers. You can pound the chicken out first to make rolling easier depending on how thick the breasts are, OR cut breast in half. (I try to buy the thin chicken breasts for this recipe).

I like this recipe because it makes for an easy, fast, delicious entree that (most) everyone will enjoy! It goes great with garlic bread and any variety of pasta.

Prep time: 10 minutes, cook time: 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

• Chicken Breasts, uncooked (or tenderloins)
• Pesto sauce


• Turkey Bacon


• Parmesan cheese -fresh, grated (or mozzarella)


• Olive oil cooking spray


• Sea Salt & Pepper

Pre-heat oven to 375. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish (or appropriate size needed) with olive oil/cooking spray. Take chicken and lay each breast out in pan (tongs work good for moving chicken around). Plop a spoonful of pesto sauce on each chicken breast. *Be careful not to touch chicken with spoon that you are re-dipping in the pesto sauce. Then spread the pesto across chicken, on both sides. Then sprinkle the up side of chicken with cheese.

Proceed by rolling each piece of chicken as tight as possible (cheese inside) -wash hands immediately after handling chicken and be very careful what you touch. Then take out one bacon strip per chicken breast and proceed to wrap the chicken with the bacon, like you are wrapping it to keep it closed- not the same direction as the chicken was rolled (its hard to explain). Then sprinkle the top with cheese, and season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked and cheese is bubbly.

*You can also roll the chicken in bread crumbs before cooking.